“Can you imagine what a wonderful life we could’ve had? I mean, maybe we wouldn’t have made it, but at least we would have had a chance.”
If you’re just like me and the “I’ve always loved you” trope makes you lose your fucking mind every single time, plus points if it’s gay — welcome, this book is for you!
Going into It Takes A Miracle by Jamey Moody, I expected a slightly angsty holiday romance with a guaranteed happily ever after. As someone with an aversion to fluff (for real, my reading taste is pretty much angst angst angst, but it is the holiday season), this book definitely gave me cavities. Surprisingly, I ate every bit of sweetness up, and… actually enjoyed it?
Honestly, who am I?
Release Date: November 6, 2020
Summary from Goodreads:
Is twenty-five years long enough to forget your first love?
Vanessa Perry’s summer visit to her grandparents is even better than her dreams when she meets and falls in love with Makenna Markus. The teenagers quickly make college plans and can’t wait for Vanessa’s next visit at Christmas.
But Vanessa’s mother has other ideas and does a terrible thing.
Their lives will never be the same.
Do you believe in miracles? How about a Christmas miracle? Vanessa does. And twenty five years later her son, two entwined trees, and a Christmas Stroll just may be the Christmas miracle she always hoped for.
This book efficiently combined plenty of my guilty pleasure tropes: second-chance romance, image-obsessed family tearing apart gay teenage lovers, meeting again as professional and successful adults, Christmas shopping and strolling while the snow falls —
“I’ve always loved you,” and “It’s always been you.”
No joke — I will eat that shit up.
It was like the author said, favorite tropes but make it sapphic.
But the angst was very minimal; it’s pretty much just there for conflict. The gay reunion happens pretty much early on in the book, so you can expect some tooth-aching, heart-clenching fluffy moments all throughout. Lots of kissing and hugging and hand-holding.
Except for Vanessa’s mother, all the characters are very likable. That’s not even an overstatement. Most of the characters are honest, genuine, understanding, amiable — basically just about any positive adjective you can think of. Objectively, you can even understand why Vanessa’s mother did what she did, so you can’t be entirely mad. Sick, I know. But it was done so well.
My favorite character, however, happens to be Declan, Vanessa’s college freshman son. His humor was a nice touch, but his overall personality was really fun and charming. I loved every scene he was in. Second place goes to Vanessa’s ex-husband. You’d be surprised.
The only downside for me is partially the writing style. It’s not entirely a huge issue unless you squint (which I did; I always do). It’s a little redundant. Many things are narrated, then a character says the exact same thing a few lines later. The thing that made me the iffiest though was the amount of times they say, Their hearts were full of love and adoration and happiness and sunshine and unicorns. Like, I got it the first twenty or so times already.
( Plus the amount of times they say Christmas miracle, I swear to God. In their defense, they really are each others’ Christmas miracle, so whatever. )
Additionally, some parts needed a bit more editing, but that’s it.
Rating: 3 – 3.5 stars (⭐⭐⭐)
Definitely still recommending! This one is for suckers of second-chance romances (like me) who live (or would die) for some extremely fluffy sapphics. Bonus if you adore Christmas settings. I really did enjoy this, so do pick it up! You can get it for free on Kindle Unlimited.
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Cherry Actually Reads 
That’s a great review 🌹
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Thank you, friend!
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